American Samoa have high hopes for their return to the Cabramatta Nines rugby league tournament this weekend.
Coach Paul Roebeck says most of his squad isfrom New Zealand, with one based in Sydney, and former Junior Warriors halfback and Greek international Jordan Meads travelling from the UK.
The US territory have been competing at the Nines for five years but were absent at last year's event.
Paul Roebeck says they've managed to get access to some of their top players this year and believe a top four finish isn't out of the question.
"It definitely fills a void that I think needed filling. They get a massive turnout and it's a great day. It seems to get better and better every year [and] I think it attracts more players. My biggest problem is a lot of clubs won't release their players to American Samoa. They'd rather have them playing in their club and, seeing they're aligned to them, that's our other big issue but this year we've got them all released. We've got quite a few good names in there this year so we're looking for a great result".
32 teams from Australia, Asia, Europe, North and South America and the Pacific are competing at this year's event.
